Valiant first appearances (quick version for beginners) Now with pictures! 2 2

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

The Rai semi-origin story is he doesn't really appear a whole lot and EW 5 is a continuation from #4 which is about as small of a cameo as you get

 

You are quite correct....in the beginning, for a while, EW #5 was "the more important" book to get in terms of Bloodshot. EW #4 was recognized, but it was passed over in favor of the "full" appearance.

 

Rai #0 was important for all sorts of reasons aside from Bloodshot.

EW #4 is also important for being the first appearance of the Immortal Enemy.

 

While EW #5 is important, the market has seemed to have chosen the other two, for now at least.

[RockMyAmadeus]

aren't we all comic fans, otherwise we wouldn't spend countless hours debating our favorite subjects

 

No. There are quite a few people around here who are not fans of comics at all.

 

So what are they doing here, and what are they fans of....?

 

Money.

[Bosco685]

EW #4 is also important for being the first appearance of the Immortal Enemy.

 

While EW #5 is important, the market has seemed to have chosen the other two, for now at least.

 

As a collector, you are better off going with all three books (EW 4-5, Rai 0). Sellers on the other hand are going to make their money in EW 4 and Rai 0.

 

Rai 0 does have quite a few Bloodshot appearances, though. Including his death at the hand (or laser) of Ax. So it is hard to ignore that book.

[Broke as a Joke]

Rai 0 -- First full appearance and death of Bloodshot

[Bosco685]

Rai 0 -- First full appearance and death of Bloodshot

 

 

It definitely is the odd duck issue. But there was a lot of thought put into that book.

 

Comicvine summary: Rai 0

 

At last - the landmark issue that laid the foundation for the future of the Valiant Universe, featuring the first appearance of Bloodshot! Guest-starring X-O Manowar, Archer, Shadowman, Toyo Harada, the Eternal Warrior and a cast of thousands, the next generation of Valiant heroes begins here! But just what is the Blood of Heroes? And how will it create a legacy that stretches from the modern day into the distant future?

 

Geoff, the Geomancer frees the hero known as Bloodshot from Project Rising Spirit. Years later, Shadowman dies to rid the world of the Darque Power! After that, the deaths of Archer, Aric and Bloodshot are all precursors to the great Harbinger Wars against Toyo Harada. During this struggle, the Blood of Heroes remains hidden. Finally, in 4002, Geomancer Rokland Tate bestows it upon Takao Konishi - the Last Rai!

 

This is a telling of the Rai history. It also gives us a detailed account of everything from The Unity Saga on up to the creation of Rai and The Future Force.

 

Along with that this issue serves as the origin story of Bloodshot.

 

Someone really went all out with this page.

 

Rai Zero wiki

 

Rai Zero was written by Valiant's top talent: Jim Shooter, David Lapham and Bob Layton. Marketing director Jon Hartz also contributed to the story's overall plot. Originally, it was to be drawn by Rai regular artist Joe St. Pierre with a different -script revealing the origin of the Rai Power. This story was scrapped in favor of the one published but several pages of art were produced and art available online.

 

Besides introducing the new Rai and Bloodshot, the special was designed to serve as a guidepost for all future Valiant Universe for the next decade, as well as giving fans a glimpse towards how the heroes of the "present day" Valiant books would affect the futuristic 41st Century Valiant titles.

 

One storyline development though - the death of Solar's longtime girlfriend and his split into two separate entities - would ultimately be incorporated as a catalyst for the Valiant/Image crossover "Deathmate". This caused the issue to become sought after by collectors, even though the scene in question was redrawn for the "Deathmate Prologue" special for fans who had not read the issue.

 

Deathmate was collectible? I've only ever seen Deathmate Black in demand when it comes to the regular books.

[Bosco685]

I had posted that Rai 0 unused cover art earlier. But here is a post that talks about the original direction of the book before Shooter reworked it.

 

Rai #0: The Rejected Version

 

 

Originally, Bloodshot was going to be chained down like a modern Frankenstein.

[FormerReader]

I had posted that Rai 0 unused cover art earlier. But here is a post that talks about the original direction of the book before Shooter reworked it.

 

Rai #0: The Rejected Version

 

 

Originally, Bloodshot was going to be chained down like a modern Frankenstein.

 

Thanks for posting Bosco. (thumbs u Funny (but not surprising) to see SonicDan in the comments section.

[Bosco685]

Thanks for posting Bosco. (thumbs u Funny (but not surprising) to see SonicDan in the comments section.

 

 

I thought the same thing. Valiant grew that fellow in a Harbinger test tube. I'm convinced of it.

[valiantman]

One storyline development though - the death of Solar's longtime girlfriend and his split into two separate entities - would ultimately be incorporated as a catalyst for the Valiant/Image crossover "Deathmate". This caused the issue to become sought after by collectors, even though the scene in question was redrawn for the "Deathmate Prologue" special for fans who had not read the issue.

Deathmate was collectible? I've only ever seen Deathmate Black in demand when it comes to the regular books.

I'm reading that comment to say another part of Rai #0 was catalyst for Deathmate, which is another reason Rai #0 was collectable.

 

Deathmate Red Gold is the only "hard to find" book from Deathmate.

 

Deathmate Black and Deathmate Black Gold have the first appearance of Image's Gen 13.

The gold is tougher to find, but it's usually not a problem to track down either book.

[Bosco685]

One storyline development though - the death of Solar's longtime girlfriend and his split into two separate entities - would ultimately be incorporated as a catalyst for the Valiant/Image crossover "Deathmate". This caused the issue to become sought after by collectors, even though the scene in question was redrawn for the "Deathmate Prologue" special for fans who had not read the issue.

Deathmate was collectible? I've only ever seen Deathmate Black in demand when it comes to the regular books.

I'm reading that comment to say another part of Rai #0 was catalyst for Deathmate, which is another reason Rai #0 was collectable.

 

Deathmate Red Gold is the only "hard to find" book from Deathmate.

 

Deathmate Black and Deathmate Black Gold have the first appearance of Image's Gen 13.

The gold is tougher to find, but it's usually not a problem to track down either book.

 

Thanks Greg.

 

I knew about Red Gold being the 'tougher' book to track down of this run. Though over the past few months quite a few started hitting the market (I have an Ebay alert setup for this book).

 

Deathmate Black has nice artwork when compared to the other books. Though the covers for the Preview books are not bad.

[AshKenziePaul]

I dunno about you guys, but I just don't see Deathmate doing anything.

When they came out I wasn't impressed and I don't recall anything of importance that would make any of them a hot book. I literally just thumbed through tons of them in a 50cent bin this past week.

I feel like Deathmate was the height of ridiculous 90s comics.

It was suprising that they didn't come an with ultra foil super 3D holographic chomromium gatefold yada yada yada cover that was bagged with random yada yada cards and the chance for a thisnthat!

 

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

I dunno about you guys, but I just don't see Deathmate doing anything.

When they came out I wasn't impressed and I don't recall anything of importance that would make any of them a hot book. I literally just thumbed through tons of them in a 50cent bin this past week.

I feel like Deathmate was the height of ridiculous 90s comics.

It was suprising that they didn't come an with ultra foil super 3D holographic chomromium gatefold yada yada yada cover that was bagged with random yada yada cards and the chance for a thisnthat!

The important thing at the time was that these were the hot upstart super-hero universes crossing over. There was tons of speculation of titles from both publishers, so naturally the crossover was amped up that much more. Of course, now Image doesn't have as visible a cohesive shared universe (sure there are a few that take place in the same world, but it's a minority of the publisher's output), and the Valiant of that era is a dead universe too.

[AshKenziePaul]

I dunno about you guys, but I just don't see Deathmate doing anything.

When they came out I wasn't impressed and I don't recall anything of importance that would make any of them a hot book. I literally just thumbed through tons of them in a 50cent bin this past week.

I feel like Deathmate was the height of ridiculous 90s comics.

It was suprising that they didn't come an with ultra foil super 3D holographic chomromium gatefold yada yada yada cover that was bagged with random yada yada cards and the chance for a thisnthat!

The important thing at the time was that these were the hot upstart super-hero universes crossing over. There was tons of speculation of titles from both publishers, so naturally the crossover was amped up that much more. Of course, now Image doesn't have as visible a cohesive shared universe (sure there are a few that take place in the same world, but it's a minority of the publisher's output), and the Valiant of that era is a dead universe too.

 

Oh I remember how big of a deal it was....

I just don't see these leaving the 50 cent bins

 

Back in the 90s, I got into plenty of this hype stuff.....remember Image #0 ...I think that I gave my copy away.

[Bosco685]

remember Image #0 ...I think that I gave my copy away.

 

Got rid of my eight copies a few years back.

 

[FormerReader]

 

Back in the 90s, I got into plenty of this hype stuff.....remember Image #0 ...I think that I gave my copy away.

 

I'm with you on this. It's cool to see some of the back story on how these are connected, but I doubt there will be any movement in these issues. The history is cool to hear though.

[Vikingreed]

I'm leaning towards getting the Magnus #0 w/ card in a 9.8 now...

This renewed interest in the old line has reignited my old passion I had for these books pre-CGC.

 

The #0 was always my favorite next to A & A #0 and #1.

[UltraMaximus]

remember Image #0 ...I think that I gave my copy away.

 

Got rid of my eight copies a few years back.

 

 

Image 0. Sold mine for $50.00 in VF condition with a Jim Lee and a Marc Silvestri Signature.

 

Good haul at the dollar bins today:

 

Solar 10 II Print

Bloodshot 1

Bloodshot 6

Hard C.O.R.P.S. 5

Eternal Warrior 6

Shadowman 10

and a Shadowman 0 NON Chromium cover. Supposedly rare as hell.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2015 by UltraMaximus

[Gatsby77]

Another reason EW 4 trumps # 5 and Rai 0 as the "1st Bloodshot" -- it was the one most-hyped by Wizard.

 

Perfect case of the early collectors' market being indoctrinated to think of EW 4 as the primary key, and it was arguably harder to find than Rai 0 because it wasn't ordered / hoarded beforehand, whereas Rai 0 was (just see the old-school American Entertainment ads for proof of this).

 

As said a few pages back, Rai 0 became an important book not for the "first full Bloodshot" but because it showed the future history of the whole Valiant universe.

[Vikingreed]

remember Image #0 ...I think that I gave my copy away.

 

Got rid of my eight copies a few years back.

 

 

Image 0. Sold mine for $50.00 in VF condition with a Jim Lee and a Marc Silvestri Signature.

 

Good haul at the dollar bins today:

 

Solar 10 II Print

Bloodshot 1

Bloodshot 6

Hard C.O.R.P.S. 5

Eternal Warrior 6

Shadowman 10

and a Shadowman 0 NON Chromium cover. Supposedly rare as hell.

 

 

Wow, very nice find!

[___]

Another reason EW 4 trumps # 5 and Rai 0 as the "1st Bloodshot" -- it was the one most-hyped by Wizard.

 

Perfect case of the early collectors' market being indoctrinated to think of EW 4 as the primary key, and it was arguably harder to find than Rai 0 because it wasn't ordered / hoarded beforehand, whereas Rai 0 was (just see the old-school American Entertainment ads for proof of this).

 

As said a few pages back, Rai 0 became an important book not for the "first full Bloodshot" but because it showed the future history of the whole Valiant universe.

 

I don't care how rare something is, just cause it is "rare" doesn't make it the most collectible. Hulk 181 isn't rare by any means but myself included and everyone else prefers it over 180 because who really cares about a one panel cameo.